Warrenspiece: Talk is cheap, and there's a hard road ahead for the Senators

What matters is that their losing streak is at six games, their longest in almost four years.

We get it. The players had to try and find something positive after losing 2-1 to the New York Islanders, but the talk that they could have beaten the Islanders on Saturday and should have beaten the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 18 is irrelevant.

What matters is that the Ottawa Senators’ losing streak is at six games, their longest in almost four years. (They were outplayed, sometimes badly, in the other four defeats). Worse still, picking up but one point over that stretch in the modern NHL, with points for overtime and shootout losses, is devastating.

It seems so early to talk about this, but to reach 95 points — the entry spot for the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference last season — the Senators need 73 points in their final 60 games. That’s 35-22-3, 34-21-5 or 33-20-7.

Mountain, meet the Senators.

“We’ve got two ways we can go,” centre Matt Duchene said moments after breaking his ice-cold stretch with a late goal against the Islanders. “We get bitter or we get better … we’re going to choose the latter.”

DIVISIONAL HOPE: It’s astounding, really, how terrible the Atlantic Division is, where only the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs have won more games than they’ve lost. If the Senators somehow make it back into the playoff race, they have a better shot as the third seed in the Atlantic than as a wild card … As dire as the situation appears in Montreal, the Canadiens could pass the Senators in the standings with a victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. If not then, the Canadiens could overtake the Senators during Wednesday’s meeting at the Bell Centre, which kicks off the Senators’ ridiculous seven-game road trip … When the clubs met Oct. 30 at Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators were 5-1-5 and the Canadiens were 3-7-1, eight points back.

ABOUT THE CAPTAIN: It’s no coincidence that captain Erik Karlsson’s personal pointless streak is at six games, the same length as the Senators’ slide. The last time Karlsson went so long without a point was his rookie season of 2009-10, when he went eight games without hitting the scoresheet. “We can do whatever we want and feel good about ourselves, but it’s results that we want,” Karlsson said. “We’ve got to pay the price a little bit more. I feel like we’re playing a little bit too much on the outside. If we don’t play the best hockey than we possibly can, we’re not going to put ourselves in situations to win games.”

RISE OF BIG BEN HARPUR: Beyond the points, something seems a tad off about Karlsson. It’s hard not to think he’s still adjusting after his major off-season foot surgery. In explaining why he chose to play rookie Ben Harpur over rookie Thomas Chabot on Saturday, Senators coach Guy Boucher said it was because Harpur could help take some defensive pressure off Karlsson in five-on-five situations. “(Harpur) is able to play against the better players. It relieves some of the time on ice against better players for Erik to be able to do his thing, to give him a breather to go on offence, and we thought we needed more of that.”

BOLSTERING BELLEVILLE: Chabot and left-winger Nick Paul were assigned to Belleville of the American Hockey League on Sunday and both played in the B-Sens’ 5-1 matinee loss against the Toronto Marlies. Chabot could be recalled for the start of the seven-game road trip against Montreal, pending the health of Mark Borowiecki, who received a concussion Nov. 19 against the New York Rangers … When Johnny Oduya was signed as a free agent in the summer, his $1-million base salary wasn’t a major financial gamble. He might hit additional bonuses for $250,000 bonuses for playing in 41 and 65 games, but he won’t get additional cash for finishing top three in ice time among defencemen or top five in ice time among all players. He has struggled recently, as have others on the blue line. How soon until Boucher opts to make Oduya part of the healthy-scratch rotation?

THE LONG ROAD AHEAD: The Senators were off the ice Sunday and will stay away again on Monday, but will practise Tuesday before heading to Montreal. Shouldn’t they be practising more, working on the many areas of concern? “This is a break we planned a long time ago,” Boucher said, referencing the oddity of a schedule that has them playing only one home game over 24 days. “This is the moment. If we don’t take it now, it’s not coming back again.” … Again, it sounds crazy in late November, but this has the potential to be a trek that could make or break the Senators’ season. “You can kind of get sucked into thinking about some of the negativity that goes into a big trip like that, but we have to make it a team-bonding trip where come together as a group, like we did in Sweden,” goaltender Craig Anderson said.

WEIGHT REMOVED: Duchene’s teammates were as ectastic as he was when his pointless drought with the Senators ended at 477:02, thanks to his goal with 4:21 remaining Saturday. “It was more of a mental thing for him,” said Derick Brassard, who raced over to embrace Duchene. “In his first three or four games, he had so many chances. Then, the puck doesn’t go in, you start doubting yourself. He was still getting chances, playing well, but nothing was working for him. You could see the relief for him and the whole team.”… Brassard had nine shots on goal Saturday, one shy of his career high … Technically, Tampa is playing within the rules by assigning Chris DiDomenico to Syracuse of the AHL for “conditioning” purposes, but it sure seems like the Lightning are breaking the spirit of the law after plucking him off waivers from the Senators on Friday … Love that Shania Twain. Sure wish she had gone Lady Gaga and caught a pass as she left the stage Sunday. Just think … three weeks from now we get to go back to Lansdowne to see the Senators and Canadiens play outdoors.

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